It's my first time... be gentle ;)

[19Purpleking69]

good stuff

good stuff

i remember my first grow my plants were big and healthy and about to swap to flower and they got rusty and started yellowing thought just like you and it was ph because at the time my water was 7.2, and my soil ph meter was reading low 6. i started to flush with my ph to 5.8 and immediately bounced back and never had a problem since.

Now that's good stuff. My pen just came in so I'll get right on it. The pen is for liquids, is there something better for soil testing than a 2 or 3 pronged cheap meter? Looks like I need something to calibrate the pen with, what do I use? It doesn't say in the instructions. It just says to use "something" metered at 6.8.

 

[rocketman420]

buy a reference solution. I buy general hydroponics reference solution 7. you dip it in solution and wait for it to stop bouncing around and there should be a tiny flat head screw on back to twist till it hits 7 and it calibrated. always mix nutes first then test ph, nutes will cause it to drop. phosphoric battery acid is the cheapest ph down you can get. all you need is the pen, just ph your water between 5.5 and 6.3 and no more ph issues ever. your pen should be calibrated from the factory if its not spot on it should be close enough to use until you get your reference solution.

 

[canna woop!]

Hi, there

Read your comment about reverting your extraordinarily green pistil lemon pie. Thought I would pitch in a few scents toward this matter. Regenerating can be a easy ride in just a few weeks but some strains react oddly than others. Some have o me bladed leaves that start, then progressing to more blades. Some strains w ill just shoot out five bladed leaves like skunk or some kush... But in my opinion all strains benefit from a bit of special care during this time.

if there are many buds and not many leaves on the p lant it is best to leave it the ffff alone and let the new leaves emerge from the bud. if there are at least a fee handful of leaves on the lower part of the plant it is best to remove all or most the buds (maybe do it over a few days) especially pollenated buds so the plant stops trying to reproduce.


Cutting too many leaves (or buds if there are no leaves) off the plant -- just cutting too much off the plant-- can make it herm out

I l Ike to make a mixture of raw aloe Vera blended with neem and katana meals... If the time is right (maybe right when the first new leaves show and are not dark green) this drench can really help the regeneration, feeding the plants the hormones they need as well as a bit of slow release nitrogen in accord with the change.

It is not much but this is what I found useful in my small cabinet garden. Sorry if this mini tangent is out of place. I or mod will delete it
Happy groing
cwupe
ps. I also top-dress them with vermicompost (decayed matter including castings, juvenile and adult red worms, and the many other critters of the microbe kingdom)

Oh and i mist them when they are lookin all out of it and maybe dead, with the diluted allovera neem mix I mentioned above. Makes a huge difference in my opinion
I also planted nettles and Dutch white clover in the pots to help advance the soil

...TMI?

 

[19Purpleking69]

thx

 

[19Purpleking69]

Best Ballast for my Buck

Best Ballast for my Buck

buy a reference solution. I buy general hydroponics reference solution 7. you dip it in solution and wait for it to stop bouncing around and there should be a tiny flat head screw on back to twist till it hits 7 and it calibrated. always mix nutes first then test ph, nutes will cause it to drop. phosphoric battery acid is the cheapest ph down you can get. all you need is the pen, just ph your water between 5.5 and 6.3 and no more ph issues ever. your pen should be calibrated from the factory if its not spot on it should be close enough to use until you get your reference solution.

I bought the solutions and all is good. I'll make sure to check PH after mixing nutes into distilled water. I use some G.H. products too. It's the second feeding with nutes today or tomorrow. I'll be sure to PH test the run off.
My next big thing is a ballast. Turns out my sponsor is an idiot, he gave me a 1000 watt MH ballast and only a 400 watt MH bulb. I didn't know better at the time and hooked everything up. It has ran fine for about a month but after researching ballasts I'm worried about FIRE! Now I've read and researched and it seems it's hit and miss with a 1000 watt ballast not blowing a lower watt bulb or itself. A guy with 30 years growing back ground says he's never had an issue and he has systems running now that are 1000 watt ballast with 400/600 watt bulb. I'm doing it now also and it has been working.
I can save for quality but I want to be smart about it. Digitals are great, so I've heard and read. They sometimes cause RF problems with cable and Wi-Fi. They can't be easily repaired. Unless I have the money for a back up it wouldn't be wise. Magnetic are cheaper and can be repaired. For the cost of 1 good digital I can buy 2 magnetic. 1 400 watt MH and 1 600/1000 watt HPS or 2 switchable. Does 120/240 volt mean that it's like a dimmer or just has plug in power options? Is there a magnetic ballast that can run HPS/MH 400/600/1000? That's what I want.

 

[plato]

120/240 is an input option. It doesn't effect output
Some ( digital only, I think) 1000 watt ballasts can run at 50, 75 or 100 percent.

 

[19Purpleking69]

Upgrading from 400 to 600

Upgrading from 400 to 600

I want to upgrade my 400 watt MH to a 600watt MH for my last month or so of the veg cycle. All I have now is an MH ballast. I know more watts equals more harvest but would it be a waste of money at this time? I plan on switching to a 600 or 1000 HPS for flowering. I also plan on vegging a little longer than what I've heard people do. I'm not quite a month into it now and my 8 girls are about 8"-10" tall and wide. I want to veg at least another month, maybe until the end October or mid November. Depending on their size by then. I need to start spreading them out more, they are getting bushier. I don't have extra money to burn so I want to get just what I need for a successful harvest.
What I have:
2- used 400 watt MH bulbs
1- used air-cooled light hood
1- 6" inline fan hooked to 6' of duct leading from outside of the room to inside around ground level.
1-good exhaust fan(72 amps I think) hooked to the light hood with a 6' piece of duct leading out of the room.
3- inside fans. 1 box fan,1-10" fan and an 8" oscillating fan. The room is well insulated and holds temp within 10 degrees with lights off. Humidity was about 45% last night.
3- surge protectors. The Ballast and light are linked to the box fan on the same timer on 1 protector, the inline and the exhaust fans are hooked to another timer and protector and 2 small fans and a radio are plugged into the last protector.
I'm also saving for a better ballast or 2. I would like magnetic I think because they can be repaired more easily than digital and they are cheaper. I do want the best my money can buy though.

 

[latetothegame]

Hi, there

Read your comment about reverting your extraordinarily green pistil lemon pie...

Hi, canna woop!

Thank you I really think she is totally dead. Heh. She does NOT look at all happy. Brown. Crispy-looking. I am still going to keep light on her and water her, but... dunno for how much longer before I just give up...

 

[rocketman420]

that 400 watt mh is fine for veg. depending on what strains you run and how tall your celings are depends on veg time. I run sog small plants 10-14 day veg pack them in like sardines thants how you get your weight. if you want big plants you need light down low too. if you want a 2 month veg your plants will be huge and the first 2 feet will be bare or hardly produce. you need light penetration so the taller the plants the less light you have at the bottom. check out the veticale and coliseum sections, they put 1 light on top and bottom and grow monster plants. it all depends on the space you have as to how you can grow. during flower is were you want to put the big 1000 watt hps. if you can wire you a plug to run your ballast on 240 amps that is what they are made to run on, I got all mine ran that way.i would take that surge protector off all it will do is cause problems and trip for no reason, the breaker in your box is the surge protector. I got 2 surge protectors in my garden but they only run fans and air pumps. if your surge protector is next to your plants put some tape over the little light on it or it can cause your girls to herm in flower its just enough light to stress them.

 

[rocketman420]

if you want a good ballast cheap go to ebay and look up ipower ballast, you can get a 1000 watt set up fo $250 ballast, bulb, hood, ect. I have got 8 running right now, 4 of which have been running non stop for 1 1/2 years so far and have a few friends who use them. they are made in the same factory as lumatek and they are $600 for a setup. the hoods they use work but are cheap a good predator or hydrofarm hood works very well.

 

[19Purpleking69]

rocketman420

rocketman420

Maybe if I knew what I was doing from the start I could veg after only 10-14 days. Why are you only going that long? Seems like you wouldn't have much to flower. I don't want many plants, I want to focus on about 6 at a time so getting them full and big before flowering is the plan. Maybe 2 months veg, 2 and a half at the most.
You pack yours in tight? See now I read you're suppose to try and not let the leaves touch for optimum coverage. I'm using the scrog method as well as LST and topping. I wish you could see them now. I thought maybe I gave them too much nutes and other love and attention last week but man have they sprouted. Mine are touching a little. I've been trying to keep the tops of all plants level with the light. Sea of Green my brother. I'm also planning on adding a few 125 watt cfl bulbs to the mix the same way you were describing. My neighbor is an electrician and is hooking me up with a private box just for the room in about a week. I think 240 and 120.
I'll dump the surge protectors except the ones for fans. I might even move the ballast out of the room to lower the heat a pinch. 82-84 seems high, 78-80 sounds better. Your thoughts? Humidity has been around 40% the last few days with the lights on. Too low? Gets to 60% with lights off.
What about a SunPlus splitter for a 1000 watt ballast? Have 600 for flower and 400 for veg? I can split my room right down the middle and have 6 going in both sides at all times. I figured between me and my queen bee we consume about 1 and a half pounds of the good lords weed every year so 6 and 6 just makes good sense. My studies show that the MH bulb I'm using for veg is going to lengthen the veg stage by 30-40% so I'm thinking that my next ballast will just be HPS. I can get a conversion bulb from HPS to MH for vegging if I find I prefer it done that way.
It sure is nice having a Bud to chit chat with about my new passion. Thank you

 

[rocketman420]

90% of ballasts can use mh or hps, any digital ballast you get now will. if you are doing sog your veg time is fine, your girls will be monsters. most plants double in the first 2-3 weeks of flower, some triple, that's when you will be training and tying down every day. I run 25 2 gallon smart pots in every 4x4 and get 3/4 - 1 oz per with 2 week veg under 1000 watt hps. I let mine grow till week 3 or 4 then take most of the big fan leaves that poke out of their space. 40% humidity is a little low for veg it just means they will drink more, 40-60% is were you wanna be all around, keeps mold and mildew spores at bay.your mh has more blue spectrum good for foliage growth, hps has orange and red spectrum which are good for bud and stem growth so if you veg with hps you with have tall stretchy plants, a lot of people use mh for first 2-3 weeks of flower to help decrease stretch. best thing to do is get some good hortilux mh and hps bulbs they have very broad spectrum of light for optimal growth. I run my room at 68 and it keeps my 4x8 tents with 2k at 72-75. you just don't want to get below 50 at night and above 80 during day, right around 75 is perfect for all around.

 

[19Purpleking69]

Ballast

Ballast

90% of ballasts can run MH or HPS, does that include magnetic? Maybe if it's an HPS ballast it can run both? I have funds to upgrade my 1000 watt MH ballast to what ever I want within 220 bucks. I don't want to have to worry that my ballast is going to crap out on me. I know digital is the way to go these days but there are just as many people that prefer the old work horse, magnetic. There's a shop 15 minutes from home, Hydro 4 less, that has 1000 watt magnetic ballasts starting at 79 bucks. I was thinking about getting 2 of them, $190 after tax. I can run anything up to a 1000 watt bulb on them. What is your opinion, get a digital or 2 magnetics? I can always get a back up magnetic if I went digital. I couldn't afford another digital for awhile. I've been researching but I have no one in my area that I can easily talk to and shop owners/workers want to sell you shit you don't really need, or they don't really know how to get me what I'm needing and can only spew the sales pitch of the week at me. I can pretty much get anything in my area, Seattle, WA. I've researched a lot of different brands. Price is important to me, I only get about 100-200 bucks a month for my budget. Sometimes less. I have kids and dogs and a lovely wife that suck the bucks right from my pocket.
I know most of the pros and cons of both types. Heat and wattage used is most important. I can set up the hotter magnetics outside of the room to lower the heat in the room which should also raise the humidity, I think? Unless the 2 new fans are too much and are drying the room out? It's a lite breeze on the plants though, not heavy. I had a humidifier going for a short time before the new fans but was told not to in my state. I had it up to 64% but it added more heat to the room than I needed. It dropped to 40% after I brought in the new fans. I can easily set what ever ballast I get outside the room if it adds to much heat. I know I need to lower the temp in the room by about 4 degrees. The ballast and the bulb are the only thing heating the room. If it's a dimmable ballast I get would you use a 1000 watt bulb and dim it or use lower watted bulbs when not using 1000 watts? Save the 1000 watt bulb for when I want it. Again ,I have researched and read reviews. Without knowing if the person doing the review has a brain at all I can only guess how correct they might be. You on the other hand I have began to trust and have faith in. I have pretty good common sense and I'm not a dummy but I also have OCD which gets in the way of non-life threatening decisions. More so when there are multiple choices. Basically, I have a hard time choosing. I wish my wife had an interest in helping me with this new life long project I've decided to start, she's super smart. She says I micro-manage and this isn't something she can help me with, not yet. Not until I figure it out first.
I tied some of the girls down last night before feeding them which I'm now thinking was a mistake, maybe not. They are filling out and fanning out so much that my light has to be about 18 inches away to cover them all in light. Lots of under brush that wasn't getting light so I spread their branches out and down a pinch and tied them off. They are in 2 gallon pots and the foliage has grown bigger than the diameter of the pot. If I stood them straight up I bet they are about 8-10 inches tall so far. I do mist them daily with distilled water but I think I need the humidifier hooked up again. Should I get a splitter for my exhaust or inline fan? I feel the vacuum from the exhaust fan when I put my hand over the opposite end of the air-cooled hood so I know it's pulling the hot air from the bulb out of the room but the light ray heat can't be stopped only cooled by the other fans. Maybe a splitter could suck more of the actual heat from the room? I only have the exhaust fan hooked to it because there is only one source of fresh air, a 6" inline fan. I had it hooked up to the hood but it got hotter in the room so I unhooked it and have it facing the ground about 2 feet above. I might need a bigger inline fan, didn't think of that until just now. An 8" might do the trick. It could also be that my inline fan has to much duct hooked to it, about 6 feet. It's also not a straight shot, maybe 2 corners. It's attached to the sealing right outside of the room and I read that I should have the fresh air coming in at ground level. The room stays at 82 during the day so I know I need to get the magnetic ballast outside of the room because it does get warm.

 

[rocketman420]

its all preference with digital or magnetic. magnetic gets hotter and hum like crazy, digital are quiet and cool. magnetic ballast usually last longer and can be fixed cheaply with parts at local home depot. air cooled hood are best. with your inline fan the more bends the more drag and less air flow, I got my 6 in fan 550 cfm with about 10 ft of ducting going up through the attic and 2 hood 1k in each with 2 bends and does fine. my 600 watt mh for veg I twisted the duct to make it light tight and it has a 240 cfm fan on 3/4 and another bend and stays 74-76. make sure you have a large enough intake, if its to small it wont be able to suck enough cool air in to replace the hot fast enough.I here you on the listening to people on the internet here is a lot of idiots, just don't overwhelm yourself with everything, its easy to do. keep everything simple, KISS method. ive tried all the crazy hype nute packs, mixing 10 different things, you don't need. less is more. I know a 15 year vet that uses peters 20 20 20 and peters 10 50 10 that's it and grows some dank trees vert style. I hear you on your wife, mine is really smart too, that's why she is almost done with her degree, and damn she says the same about me. she now knows enough to take care of things if need be, I gave her a detailed how to book I made for her. she is liking it better now that we just started breeding, it gets her more gitty knowing we are creating something new.

 

[19Purpleking69]

Good stuff

Good stuff

Going from a 6" to an 8" intake fan is what I'll do if the room doesn't cool down after I get my BRAND NEW DIGITAL BALLAST! A decision has been made. I'm not sure which brand yet but I'll be getting a back up magnetic ballast just incase. My inline fan has about 2 feet of duct before the it corners to the left then another 2 feet before it angles downwards. That's it. I'm not sure of the air force coming from it, that's what my problem could be. A stronger inline fan might fix the heat issue. My nutes are the 2 part Canna Substra veg 20 ml per 2 gallon, Pondzyme 4 or 5 drops per 2 gallon, BioRoot 20 ml per 2 gallon and CalMax 20 ml per 2 gallon every other feeding. Last nite they got a little worm tea added as well. So far they have had 2 feedings of this mix, last night was the second. After the first feeding they really grew a lot. I worried for a few days after feeding about proper mixture, I also didn't have a PH pen yet. Just like I'm worried now a day after feeding. The run off tested at about 6. They were much more dry this time. I was feeding every 5th day but starting this week it will be every 3 days. I also only gave them about 32 oz of liquid per plant. That will almost double next feeding. I'm wondering when I should transplant them again. I would love to show you pics but not online. purpleking44 at Hotmail is my address send a message and I'll send my number so maybe we can text, if that's cool with you?

 

[plato]

I set my digital thermometer in the flower room yesterday, it records high and low.
A 430 cfm fan, running through ~ 6 ft of duct, and a carbon scrubber into a 400 watt lamp peaked at 75.
Just thought Id throw that out.
This is the same area my 96 watt veg tent vents into, as well.
I wouldnt pack the plants much more than 1 per square foot if you are training. You will run into crowding issues pretty quick

 

[19Purpleking69]

I set my digital thermometer in the flower room yesterday, it records high and low.
A 430 cfm fan, running through ~ 6 ft of duct, and a carbon scrubber into a 400 watt lamp peaked at 75.
Just thought Id throw that out.
This is the same area my 96 watt veg tent vents into, as well.
I wouldnt pack the plants much more than 1 per square foot if you are training. You will run into crowding issues pretty quick

I know my room should be cooler. I'm sure it's the heat from the magnetic ballast that makes the room too hot and my insulation is supreme. I'll welcome winter. My buddy rocket says it's ok to have the girls close together, just not smashed together. I have good common sense and I'm careful. To be able to spread them out and still allow them all good light I think I need a bigger bulb, maybe just a 600 watt. I'm running a 400 watt MH over top of 8 plants in 2 gallon pots. All plants foliage is already grown past the outer rim of the pot and I had to raise the light a little to keep them all within the spot. The light is 18 inches above the plants now. My research told me that the leaves shouldn't touch which means the light would have to be higher above them, like 2 feet, in order to cover them. I'm not sure a 400 watt bulb can do that. I'm sure I need a stronger inline fan, that and putting the ballast outside of the room should get the temp right.
I bought a new E-Fusion 1000 watt dimmable ballast yesterday but haven't hooked it up yet. I'm vegging for about another month so continuing to use my 1000 watt MH mag ballast is ok for now, I think. If I decide to switch to 600 MH and can't find a normal MH bulb then I'll hook the new one up. However, the temp issue needs to be addressed pronto so I might just say fuck it and hook the new ballast up outside the room this morning. The high heat is making the humidity to low during the day.It's still early in the morning and I can't start doing construction in my basement yet, my wife frowns on me getting up at 6 am to go work in the basement.

 

[rocketman420]

haha I wake up at 6-7 no matter what. when I had my grow room being built I couldn't sleep at all. if your worried about putting pics on here get a proxy service it bounces your signal off other servers so if someone wants to look were you are it will tell them some other place. every time I log on it says im in phenix az, haha nowere close. I use private proxy everything is through paypal $25 every 3 months. it helps keep your personal shit on your computer safer and buying things off the internet safer also. you can also put pics in your albums and not post them on here and turn your filters on friends only so nobody can see unless you ok them. phones email all that is more trackable. look at the keeping it safe threads on here, its got some good info about messing around on here and keeping your garden safe secure and under the radar.

 

[19Purpleking69]

Turns out that it was the exhaust coming from my room not completely being exhausted. I was building a lockable door for my room and had to hook up the duct to the exhaust going out the chimney to see how much room i needed for the door. I didn't hook it up yet, no need i thought. No smell yet. The exhaust air was able to get back into the room so it stayed hot. It's now 77 not 82 and humidity went from 40% to 56%. The door isn't on yet but the temp and humidity issue seems to have been fixed.

 

[19Purpleking69]

Ballast issue already

Ballast issue already

I already had a ballast issue. My electrician friend hooked up a separate breaker box (60 Amps) and 2-4 way outlets, one plug in was wired for 240 volt so I didn't have to buy the extra cord. I dialed the ballast down to 750, I put my new 600 watt MH bulb in and plugged it in and all was fine for about 15 minutes and then the light turned off. I also had a fan plugged into the same outlet and it didn't turn off. I unplugged it and waited a minute before plugging it back in. It did it 3 times in a row and the 3rd time popped the main breaker to the house, all lights out. Sucked. I hooked the 1000 watt magnetic ballast back up and it has worked fine all night. Weeks 1-2 , Week 2ish , Weeks 3-4 , Weeks 4-5